From today’s WaPo:
Among public universities, the University of California at Berkeley, UCLA, the University of Michigan and the University of Texas at Austin indicated they do not use a legacy preference. But the universities of Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina at Chapel Hill said on the questionnaire that they do consider alumni connections.
I knew that about UT-Austin (where I went); didn’t know that about UMd. Disclaimer: (1) our eldest offspring was not admitted to UMd; yeah we’re bitter & (2) this is one anecdote. In our kid’s mostly African-American graduating class, the valedictorian got in, the salutatorian was accepted but took a scholarship somewhere else, and… like two other kids got in, that he & his friends know of. (Another friend from the previous year at our school did get in.) We know of more than a few other Habesha families from which the kids were accepted to UMd, but they all attend a different school system than ours. So, I had thought perhaps the admissions process might take different schools / school systems into account.
But I’ve long noticed (living nearby, & spending a lot of time in the neighborhood) that UMd – much like (but not to nearly the same extent as) UT-Austin where I attended, and (I’m sure) most colleges in the United States – certainly has its share of budding doofuses. Perhaps it’s just a small group that’s outsizedly & obnoxiously visible/audible but, on the other hand, they surely outnumber (for example) the rest of the top 10 students* at our school who did not get into UMd. *(Our kid’s not in the top 10)
Now I have to consider that a nonzero amount of the budding doofuses are there because they are legacy admissions. All that aside, we’re very happy with where our kid did get in, and while we figured he could probably transfer into UMd later if he wanted, more & more I’m like “meh…”
Edit: spleling etc.
